No Wonder They Hate Him… Wisconsin Union Loses Half of Membership Due to Walker’s Law

Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, May 31, 2012, 6:12 AM

Wisconsin public service unions have experienced a severe drop in membership following the enactment of Governor Scott Walker’s controversial union law last year.FOX News reported:

Public-employee unions in Wisconsin have experienced a dramatic drop in membership — by more than half for the second-biggest union — since a law championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker sharply curtailed their ability to bargain over wages and working conditions.

Now with Mr. Walker facing a recall vote Tuesday, voters will decide whether his policies in the centrist state should continue — or whether they have gone too far.

The election could mark a pivot point for organized labor.

Mr. Walker’s ouster would derail the political career of a rising Republican star and send a warning to other elected officials who are battling unions. But a victory for the governor, who has been leading his Democratic opponent in recent polls, would amount to an endorsement of an effort to curtail public-sector unions, which have been a pillar of strength for organized labor while private-sector membership has dwindled.

That could mean the sharp losses that some Wisconsin public-worker unions have experienced is a harbinger of similar unions’ future nationwide, union leaders fear. Failure to oust Mr. Walker and overturn the Wisconsin law “spells doom,” said Bryan Kennedy, the American Federation of Teachers’ Wisconsin president.

Wisconsin membership in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees-the state’s second-largest public-sector union after the National Education Association, which represents teachers-fell to 28,745 in February from 62,818 in March 2011.

jonnot commented:

After Governor Walker prevails on Tuesday, other Republican governors across the country—and they are in the majority–will rise up and take similar measures in their states. Especially those states in which the Legislature is also Republican. What possible excuse could they NOT have for enacting legislation that will save their states billions and help ensure that public employees contribute to their own benifts program…you know, the way every worker in the private sector does. Now, if we can similarly weaken the teachers’ unions…

jonnot commented:

Finncrisp commented:

The tingle lets you know it’s working! About time we cut off the cronyism in the public labor unions.
One would assume the “defectors” will also be Walker voters. Everybody wins. Courage and Principle trump Corruption.

George commented:

Good. There should be no support for unions that bargain with the people they helped get elected to office. If this works, the next step would be to dismantle the NEA. Public employee unions at state and federal level, i say R.I.P. With the exception of firefighters and police.

frank smith commented:

John H commented:

Yep. Labor unions are the purest form of democracy you can be forced to join and support with your hard earned wages and Scott Walker represents the greatest existential threat to their survival.

I’m reminded of the left’s propensity to want a ‘fairness doctrine’ when it comes to political opinions on AM radio, but I’m guessing they wouldn’t like that applied to political donations from unions, just to be sure that some people’s dues were being sent to a party they were diametrically opposed to. I’m not sure how that might work for Libertarians/Independents, but it’s not like we’ll ever have to worry about it, right?